Culinary lifter.



No. 769,028. PATENTED AUG. 30,1904-v (3L. STARR. CULINARY LIFTER.

APPLICATION FILED APBLZZ, 1902.

H0 MODEL.

Patented August 30, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE L. STARR, OF OTEGO, NEW YORK.

CULINARY LIFTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 769,028, dated August 30, 1904.

Application filed April 22, 1902.

Improvements in Culinary Lifters, of which the following is a complete specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

The object of my invention is to produce a cheap, simple, and efiicient device for lifting a variety of heated utensils when employed as in cookery, one which is adapted when not in use for lifting purposes to constitute a convenient stand or support for heated articles and one which is well adapted forhandli'ng eggs in the shell, as in boiling. My device,

although specially applicable. to culinary pur-. poses, may b'eemployed also for a wide variety of other purposes.

In the accompanylng drawings, Figure I 1s a perspective view of my device in its normal position, in which it is ready for use and in which it is adapted to be used as a stand or Fig. II is a. similar view showing the device in operation as a lifter. Fig. III is a similar view showing the device in operation as an egg-lifter, the position of the pre-' hensile member upon the frame being shifted to adapt it to that purpose.

Referring to the numerals on the drawings,

1 indicates one leg, and 2 the other, of the frame of my device, which, being made of wire and united at one end by means which impart to the two legs a yielding tendency to separateas, for example, a coil 3, formed in the resilient wire of which the frame is constructedconstitute a pair, of tongs.

Operatively secured to the frame is a twopart prehensile member whose parts f and 5 are pivotally united to the respective legs and to each other. Each part of the prehensile member terminates ina grasping end, which in the preferred form of embodiment of my invention illustrated consists of a pair of hooks 7 and, 8,-respectively. Each part of the prehensile member in the said preferred form of embodiment is made of a single piece of wire, bent as illustrated, and is provided upon opposite sides with eyelets 9 and 10, which encircle and pivotally secure the part the device to rest upon.

Serial No. 104,205. (No model.)

'to the leg of the frame upon which in prac tice it works. The two parts are not only pivotally united to each other, as. has been specified, but are preferably provided with I stop mechanism for limiting the pivotal moveother. By this means the prehensile member is made to constitute in its extended position (shown in Fig. I) a firm bridge across the frame, to which it is united in the manner projecting bend 16, which, projecting into the path of the cross-piece 11, interrupts its movement around the cross-piece 12, and thereby constitutes the stop mechanism referred to.

'ment of the two parts with respect to each I The prehensile member is adapted to slide from one end of the frame to the other; but I prefer to limit its movement toward the free end ofthe legs, as by stops 18, formed in' the legs by bending them.

At the extremities of the legs I provide in each, as by bending, a vertically-disposed ring 19. The rings not only give a finish to the article, but also afford means for using thetongs for lifting eggs and render the device available as a stand'or support.

The operation of my ClGVl'GB is as follows: First, the tendency of the legs to keep separated, as by the resilient action of the coil 3, tends normally to hold the evice at all times in the position shown in Fig. I, the prehensile member being loosely held in a fixed position upon the frame. In this position the device is adapted to be used as a stand, in which the bottoms of'the rings 19, the bottom of the coil 3, and the books 7 and 8 act as legs for In Ithe position referred to also the device is always ready for use as a lifter. For that purpose the operator grasps the legs, as between the thumb and the finger, near the coil 3, and applies the hooks about the article to be lifted for instance, the rim of a pan 20 shown in the drawings. Then by slight pressure the legs are brought together until the hooks 7 and 8 engage the rim. After engagement of the article by the hooks the article can be readily lifted, using the tongs or frame as a handle. No pressure is required to operate the device after the hooks are in engagement; but the weight of the article tends to hold the parts of the prehensile member in engagement by transforming the prehensile member into a pair of lifting-tongs. A slight pressure upon the legs will produce disengagement of the hooks from the article, and the separation of the legs restores the device to its normal position. The tongs can be utilized for manipulating eggs in the shell without reference to the position of the prehensile member upon the legs thereof; but for convenience the prehensile member is preferably slipped toward the coil 3, thereby leaving the free ends of the legs to be used for the purpose specified, in which the rings 19 readily catch and hold an egg when applied thereto under pressure, as between the thumb and finger applied near the coil 3. The stops l8 on the legs are employed in order to permit the free manipulation of the prehensile member without permitting contact between the rings 19 and the contents of a'dish, which might be defaced by such contact.

What 1 claim is 1. A device of the kind described, comprising three distinct elements in combination, namely, a frame provided with a pair of legs and the two parts of a prehensile member, said prehensile member extending as a unit transversely across the two legs, the said parts being movablysecured to each other and to the legs respectively and being operative through movement of the legs.

2. The combination with a pair of tongs of a prehensile member operatively connected therewith and extending transversely across the two legs of the tongs, said prehensile member comprising two oppositely-acting parts and being movable lengthwise of the tongs.

3. The combination with a pair of tongs and a prehensile member operatively connected therewith and extending transversely across the two legs of the tongs, said prehensile member comprising two oppositely-acting parts and being movable lengthwise of the tongs, of stops for limiting said lengthwise movement.

4. The combination with a pair of tongs, of a prehensile member consisting of two parts pivotally united to the tongs and to each other and provided with grasping ends comprising a pair of hooks upon each of the parts of said prehensile member.

5. The combination with a pair of tongs, of a prehensile member consisting of two parts pivotally united to the tongs and to each other, grasping ends upon the prehensi le member, and stop mechanism adapted to limit the pivotal movement between the two parts of the prehensile member.

6. The combination with a pair of tongs and a prehensile member operativcly secured thereto, of vertically-disposed rings upon the ends of the legs and tongs respectively.

7. The combination with a pair of legs united by a resilient coil and provided with terminal rings, of a two-part prehensile member, the parts being pivotally united to the legs, respectively, and to each other, hooks upon the prehensile member and stop mechanism for limiting the pivotal movement of the two parts of the prehensile member, the hooks and bottoms of the rings and coil, respectively, being in the same plane when the device is in normal position.

8. The combination with a pair of tongs comprisinga pair of resiliently-separated legs, of a prehensile member comprising two parts pivotally united to the legs of the tongs, respectively, and united in like manner to each other.

9. The combination with a prehensile member comprising two parts pivotally united to each other, of a frame provided with two members operatively united to the two parts of the prehensile member, respectively, and means for actuating the prehensile member through manipulation of either end of the frame.

In testimony of all which 1 have hereunto subscribed my name.

GEORGE L. STARR.

Witnesses:

\V. H. PARKER, F. B. GOOKE.

IOO 

